Libya: Five-year offshore oil exploration hiatus ends

After a more than five year-long absence, Libya’s sabbatical from offshore oil exploration has come to an end. The country’s primary oil giant, the National Oil Corporation (NOC), announced that it has once again began oil exploration in the north-western region of its waters.

The new offshore exploration comes after the NOC announced that it would be partnering with the Italian energy giant Eni, according to the Moroccan government-friendly North Africa Post on October 7th.

Offshore oil exploration is a complex feat of engineering, requiring a great deal of pre-existing information before any ships can begin to make preparations for drilling. For these reasons, the new offshore exploration comes after crucial environmental and technical assessments had been completed, which then allowed for geological surveys and seismic surveys to take place. Once these key studies and assessments have been completed, the latest drilling zones will be granted for future oil extraction.

The latest partnership between the two countries comes after both Libyan and Italian officials promised to find new ways to work together to address irregular migration, as well as the migrant crisis more generally. The two announcements may indicate the growing state-partnership, alongside improving economic ties between the two countries.

Libya has been divided between the Government of National Unity in Tripoli (GNU)-the UN recognised authority in the country- and in the Government of National Stability (GNS).

For these reasons, Tripoli has been slowly regaining control of the country’s symbols of state, economic assets and other legitimising resources.

This is perhaps why the NOC has also said that this latest strategic move aims to maximise Libyan hydrocarbon resources and increase its production capacity. Eni, which is already a major investor in the Libyan energy sector, is a key managing figure in several Libyan projects alongside the NOC in extraction sites such as the Bahr Essalam natural gas field.

Although Libya has experienced a great deal of political instability since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, hydrocarbons continue to be the North African country’s main source of state revenue, and has consistently remained the central pillar holding up the nation’s economy.

North Africa Post, United Nations News, Maghrebi.org